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Networking innovation: the case of the Singapore jazz musician community
No full textIntercohesive labour or the work of sustaining membership to multiple communities allows access to diverse resources, thereby affording actors the requisite resources for innovation. However, while theoretically advantageous, intercohesion is risky as evaluative criteria determining membership utilised by some communities potentially precludes inclusion to other communities. Here, I provide a microsociological account of intercohesive labour in the context of music genres by deploying an inductive, multimethod research design that explores the interplay between boundary-work, community structure, and network position among members of the Singapore jazz musician community, in the process arguing that innovation is a byproduct of actors navigating intercohesive dissonance at the overlap of communities. To begin, I use qualitative data derived from semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted with respondents (n = 30) sampled from the Singapore jazz musician community and biographical material available online to identify the salient forms of boundary-work utilised by them, initially focusing on ideal-typical adopters of these forms of boundary-work through relating the adoption of these various forms of boundary-work to the community structure of the network. Having identified the evaluative criteria and forms of boundary-work that both divide and unite jazz musicians in Singapore, I proceed to parse a collaboration network (n = 491) consisting of jazz musicians who performed together in Singapore during 2019 to 2020 with the Weighted Clique Percolation Method (CPMw) algorithm. In doing so, I discover four distinct but overlapping social worlds comprised of clusters of detected communities that share various degrees of overlap and are organised according to the genre ideals of their members. Having identified the genre ideals of members of the Singapore jazz musician community and their relation to community structure, I end off by unpacking the intercohesive labour of “hybrid” respondents who straddle multiple communities and, by extension, multiple evaluative criteria at the overlap of communities
Sustainable Carbon Fibers Enable Stable Long‐Term Lithium Metal Deposition for Prospective Zero‐Excess Lithium Metal Batteries
No full textThree‐dimensional current collectors have emerged as a promising strategy to promote uniform Li deposition and extend the cycle life of zero‐excess lithium metal batteries. However, excessive Li loss in the first cycle due to solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation on the large surface area, combined with the use of dense or nonrenewable materials and complex, multistep fabrication processes, limits their practical implementation. In this work, a lightweight, lignin‐derived carbon fiber (CF) current collector is presented. It is fabricated via a simple and sustainable electrospinning process, and after carbonization has abundant structural defects and nanoscale porosity. Surface defects promote the formation of a stable, inorganic‐rich SEI, efficiently passivating the current collector, while pores of ∼1.0–1.4 nm enable quasi‐metallic Li clusters to form before plating, providing a conductive network and distributed nucleation sites that enhance Li plating/stripping reversibility and cycle life. This CF current collector exhibits a first‐cycle active Li loss of only 4.8%–8.9% relative to the typical Li inventory of commercial lithium‐ion battery cathodes and maintains a coulombic efficiency of 99.0% over 200 cycles, demonstrating excellent electrochemical performance
Altered Brain Tissue Volumes With Valproate Treatment for Schizophrenia
No full textSchizophrenia is a debilitating psychiatric condition that affects ≈0.5% of the global population. Some people with schizophrenia do not respond to first‐line antipsychotics and are prescribed clozapine; this is termed treatment‐resistant schizophrenia (TRS). When clozapine is ineffective for patients with TRS, and concomitant antipsychotics or mood stabilisers are required, this is termed ultra‐TRS (UTRS). Patients with UTRS are often prescribed augmentation therapy with mood stabilisers such as valproate to relieve residual symptoms. However, to date, the relationship between valproate and brain structure in people with schizophrenia has not been well described. Using magnetic resonance imaging, we found significant decreases in whole brain and white matter volumes in participants taking valproate compared to those taking clozapine without valproate. Further analyses revealed hypertrophy of grey matter in the cerebellum. This research indicates that using valproate augmentation in people with schizophrenia may alter white matter volumes and fractional anisotropy (FA) and grey matter density in the cerebellum and brainstem when compared to those receiving clozapine
The ghost in the machine speaks with an American accent: cultural value drift in early GPT-3 and the case for pluralist evaluation of generative AI
No full textEarly large language models (LLMs) were released with minimal alignment, offering a rare view of how generative systems reframe the ethical values embedded in human texts. We examine outputs from a 2021 version of OpenAI’s base GPT-3, prompting it to summarise culturally diverse source materials (laws, political speeches, and philosophical works) and interpreting results through a descriptive, moral value pluralist lens. Where possible, we contextualise outputs with cross-national datasets such as the World Values Survey. We document recurring value drift: Australia’s firearm policy is recast as a threat to liberty; de Beauvoir’s feminist critique becomes gender-essentialist dating advice; and Merkel’s humanitarian appeal is recast as immigration control. In contrast, multilateral documents (UN/UNESCO) exhibit greater value stability, suggesting consensus-crafted language can buffer against cultural mutation. We argue that these early behaviours (observed before extensive fine-tuning and safety layers) provide a baseline for understanding how training distributions shape normative framing. Our contribution is twofold: (1) empirical evidence that value drift can invert or overwrite encoded values along predictable cultural axes, and (2) a pluralist, descriptive evaluation method that surfaces whose values dominate and when. We conclude with implications for culturally inclusive evaluation and alignment in contemporary LLMs
Relative Humidity Verification Over Vietnam in ECMWF Medium‐Range Forecasts for a Dengue Early Warning System
Get PDFDengue fever outbreaks impose a severe healthcare burden in Vietnam; therefore, the development of a Dengue early warning system is key to improve public health planning and mitigate this burden. This study assesses the ECMWF medium‐range (up to 10 days) forecast skill for relative humidity in Vietnam—a key factor for vector‐borne disease transmission—in re‐forecasts between 2001 and 2020. Analysis focused on the rainy season (May–October) with ERA5 reanalysis as a reference dataset. Re‐forecast data were pre‐processed using a lead‐time dependent quantile mapping technique to reduce the bias between forecasted and observational data, and skill was assessed using climatology and persistence as a reference. Rank histograms showed that the humidity forecast is reliable up to 10 days, and continuous ranked probability skill score (CRPSS) values show that the forecast is more skilful than the climatology up to 10 days. Nonetheless, when using persistence as a reference, CRPSS values are lower in South Vietnam, which was associated with the inaccurate representation of 2 m dew point temperature in the tropical regions, and the fact that persistence is a hard reference to beat in the tropics, hindering model forecast skill. Results from this study demonstrate that ECMWF ensemble forecasts of relative humidity are suitable to use as inputs for a Dengue early warning system up to 10 days in advance
Changes in soil organic carbon after land-use change from primary forest to grassland
Get PDFForest soils hold the largest carbon on land and play a key role in global carbon balance, climate change, and the stability of terrestrial ecosystems. Consequently, fluctuations in soil organic carbon (SOC) significantly influence atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Although carbon emissions induced by land-use change (LUC) have been extensively studied and many reports indicate SOC declines following deforestation, our analysis reveals more complex patterns. We conducted a meta-analysis of 548 observational datasets from 46 peer-reviewed studies spanning climatic gradients (semi-arid to humid, tropical to temperate) to identify global patterns and drivers of SOC changes induced by primary forest LUC to grassland. Land-use conversion increased mean SOC stocks by 3.35 Mg·ha−1 (13.30%), with significant regional variation: tropical systems exhibited moderate gains (2.05 Mg·ha−1, 7.70%), while temperate regions showed substantial increases (5.19 Mg·ha−1, 24.70%). Depth-specific analysis revealed differential accumulation across soil layers: 0–20 cm (+ 3.02 Mg·ha−1), 0–30 cm (+ 3.05 Mg·ha−1), and > 30 cm (+ 5.18 Mg·ha−1). Increases in deeper layers may reflect root allocation patterns and texture-dependent stabilization mechanisms. Both mean annual temperature (MAT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) were significantly correlated with SOC changes (P < 0.05), with negative associations observed between these climatic variables and changes in carbon stocks. These findings are consistent with previous studies indicating that MAT and MAP critically influence ecosystem carbon dynamics. A significant interaction effect between MAT and MAP on SOC stock changes was also identified (P < 0.05). Our results enhance understanding of carbon balance dynamics following LUC in primary forests and provide a scientific foundation for soil carbon management strategies under global change scenarios
The odyssey of the black hole low-mass X-ray binary GX 339−4: five years of dense multiwavelength monitoring
Get PDFWe present the longest and the densest quasi-simultaneous radio, X-ray, and optical campaign of the black hole low-mass X-ray binary GX 339−4, covering five years of weekly GX 339−4 monitoring with MeerKAT, Swift/XRT, and MeerLICHT, respectively. Complementary high-frequency radio data with the Australia Telescope Compact Array are presented to track in more detail the evolution of GX 339−4 and its transient ejecta. During the five years, GX 339−4 has been through two ‘hard-only’ outbursts and two ‘full’ outbursts, allowing us to densely sample the rise, quenching, and re-activation of the compact jets. Strong radio flares were also observed close to the transition between the hard and the soft states. Following the radio flare, a transient optically thin ejection was spatially resolved during the 2020 outburst, and was observed for a month. We also discuss the radio/X-ray correlation of GX 339−4 during this five year period, which covers several states in detail from the rising phase to the quiescent state. This campaign allowed us to follow ejection events and provide information on the jet proper motion and its intrinsic velocity. With this work, we publicly release the weekly MeerKAT L-band radio maps from data taken between 2018 September and 2023 October
Plastid and nuclear phylogenomics of Cyphostemma (Vitaceae) provide new insights into genome size evolution across sub‐Saharan Africa
Get PDFGenome size, the total amount of DNA content in the cell nucleus, varies greatly among flowering plants. One factor underlying this variation is the environment under which plants evolve. Given this premise, harsh environmental conditions in arid regions may profoundly influence genome evolution. However, the specific impact of aridification on genome size evolution, particularly for African lineages, remains largely unexplored. Here, we investigate linkages between genome size evolution and ecological adaptation using the genus Cyphostemma in the grape family (Vitaceae) as a model. Cyphostemma species exhibit genome size expansion and remarkable morphological traits in arid environments, including succulent stems or leaves and loss of tendrils. Our biogeographic reconstruction, based on substantial taxon sampling (112 of 200 species), reveals that Cyphostemma originated in continental Africa during the late Eocene to Oligocene and has undergone rapid radiation since the middle Miocene, coinciding with intensified aridification and geological activity in eastern Africa. Incorporating extensive data on traits, habitats, genome size, and chromosome numbers, we show that Cyphostemma species with the largest genomes are succulent polyploids restricted to nutrient‐rich limestone outcrops. Broad‐scale analyses across eudicots further confirm that larger genomes are significantly associated with both succulence and arid habitats. Our findings reveal a strong association between genome size expansion, polyploidy, and adaptive traits, indicating that genome size is a hitherto neglected trait associated with the radiation of succulent plants during the African aridification in the Cenozoic
Sketching configurations of imperial sovereignty through nineteenth-century maritime safety
Get PDFThis article explores the nineteenth-century view that the organization of maritime safety – the ability to control or circumvent the natural forces of waterways and ensure safe navigation and rescue at sea – was one of several ‘standards of civilization’ attributable to western states that would justify a derogation of a state's sovereignty if not met. It investigates this hierarchical understanding by discussing examples of maritime safety in the context of colonialism and informal imperialism. Focusing on three examples of trans-imperial projects at chokepoints of global navigation – Cape Guardafui, Cape Spartel and the Bosporus Strait – the article shows how this standard was an argumentative foundation on which powers could agree to exchange, cooperate and collaborate in response to maritime hazards. These projects show different configurations of sovereignty: the vertical relationship of a hierarchy between sovereign and less than fully sovereign nations as well as the horizontal relationship of a shared sovereignty between empires
GATOS – XI. Excess dust heating in the narrow-line regions of nearby AGN revealed with JWST /MIRI
Get PDFWe present James Webb Space Telescope/Mid-Infrared Instrument imaging of eight nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN) from the GATOS (Galactic Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey) survey to investigate the physical conditions of extended dust in their narrow-line regions (NLRs). In four galaxies (ESO 428–G14, NGC 4388, NGC 3081, and NGC 5728), we detect spatially resolved dust structures extending 100–200 pc along the NLR. In these systems, we find a strong link between the morphology of the dust, the radio ejecta, and the coronal [Si vi] emission, implying that dust carries imprints of the processes shaping the NLR. Using spatially resolved spectral energy distributions, we show that dust in the NLR has systematically steeper slopes than star-forming clumps. This dust emits at temperatures in the range , at a distance of 150 pc from the nucleus. Using simple models, we show that, even under optimistic assumptions of grain size and AGN luminosity, the excess mid-infrared emission cannot be explained by AGN illumination alone. We interpret this excess heating as in situ. We show that shocks with velocities in dense gas can close this gap, and in some cases even account for the total observed emission. This, combined with multiple lines of evidence for shocks in these regions, supports a scenario in which shocks not only coexist with dust but may be playing a key role in heating it. Our findings reveal shocks may be an important and previously overlooked driver of extended dust emission in the central hundreds of parsecs in AGN